Manya Singh
Seattle, WA
Usability Testing for Foreflight
Delivered | New user experience and feature discoverability of an Aviation App
Overview
ORGANIZATION
Foreflight (A Boeing Company)
ROLE
UX Design and Research
Duration
3 Months (Jan 2025 - March 2025)
Team
2 UX Designer + 1 UX Researcher + 1 Human Factors Engineer
my Tasks
Project Management, Usability Test, Design Recommendations
The Problem
First-time users of ForeFlight’s iOS tablet app struggled with onboarding and feature discovery, resulting in navigation issues and reduced task efficiency.
My Project
Led usability testing and delivered 15 recommendations with supporting journey maps, storyboards, and UI improvement concepts to guide re-design of a more intuitive new user experience.
Outcome
Re-design of documents page
“I was just confused because I figured that the symbol that says settings would have everything" - Routine FF user (3YOE)
Drag the center icon to see the before and after versions!
What I did
7 participants interviewed
15 actionable recommendation
16 findings
Project Management
Glossary
For non-aviation folks
What is Foreflight?
An all-in-one platform used in in 188 countries to plan flights, check weather, access maps, and track their position using GPS. Think of it as Google Maps + weather + flight dashboard for aviation.
When is it used?
Pilots begin using ForeFlight in ground school to study airspace and weather. It becomes a daily tool through training and professional flying—for planning routes, checking conditions, and navigating in-flight.
Market Impact
ForeFlight is the market leader, used by over 80% of general aviation pilots. It competes with Garmin Pilot, WingX, and FlightPlan Go, but stands out for its widespread trust across training and commercial aviation.
What We Were Trying To Answer
?
How does the onboarding process facilitate new users in understanding, discovering, and accessing essential features? In what ways does it support users? Are there any specific steps that may lead to confusion or delays?
?
Do users intuitively learn how to use the app, or do they seek external resources for guidance?
?
Which features do new users attempt to access first, and how easily can they locate essential features within the app?
Balancing a Diverse User Set
In Focus
General Aviation Pilots
Aviation Enthusiasts
Private Pilots
Student Pilots
Flight Instructors
Out of scope
Military & Government Pilots
Business Aviation Pilots
The Study Plan
Overview of the study
Considerations While Planning the Usability Study
Diverse experience levels: Recruited new, routine, and expert users to capture varied mental models.
Realistic tasks: Aligned scenarios with actual aviation workflows to ensure relevance.
Think-aloud protocol: Observed navigation behavior and confusion in real-time.
Debrief interviews: Captured user reflections and the reasoning behind their actions.
SUS survey: Quantified usability to complement qualitative insights.
Choosing Scenarios
To understand Navigation Patterns & Feature Discoverability
Free Exploration
Why: To see what features users naturally gravitate toward and the initial friction points.
Learning: Gave insight into first impressions, navigation habits, and user expectations.
Personalizing the App
Why: Pilots need the screen to stay active during flight. We tested how easily users could find this setting.
Learning: The option was hard to locate due to scattered touchpoints, exposing a key discoverability issue.
Checking Weather & Temperature
Why: We wanted to see how users navigated the routine task and if the data supported flight decisions.
Learning: New users found the info dense and overwhelming, showing a need for more intuitive presentation.
Free Exploration
Why: We wanted to see how confidently users could access scattered map controls.
Learning: Many relied on trial-and-error, revealing friction in interaction flow and layout clarity.
Where Users Get Stuck (and Why It Matters)
120s vs. 15s
New users struggled to locate and adjust sleep settings, pointing to poor discoverability.
5x Delay
Experienced users faced friction in stopping the app from sleeping, suggesting unclear controls.
2 Failures
Even seasoned users couldn’t complete the task, highlighting serious usability issues.
12x Longer
A basic interaction took significantly longer for new users, revealing gaps in onboarding and UI clarity.
What this shows us
There is a steep learning curve, even for those who have used ForeFlight for years. Basic actions and key personalization features aren’t always intuitive, highlighting the need for better onboarding and more discoverable UI pathways.
Designing Within Complexity
Why Pilots Love ForeFlight Anyway
Why It Works
Despite the learning curve, pilots trust and love the app. In a 2020 Aviation Consumer survey, 89% rated it highly for its practical features. Its depth and reliability keep them coming back.
The Challenge
ForeFlight is packed with features to serve a wide range of users—from student pilots to military crews. That flexibility adds power, but also complexity, especially for new users trying to find their way.
The Takeaway
Designing for ForeFlight means balancing rich functionality with intuitive access—supporting both new discovery and long-term habit
Findings and Recommendations
Impact Matrix
Presenting this Impact-Effort Matrix to the stakeholder helped us align on priorities and set realistic expectations. It clarified which changes were quick wins, which required larger investments, and which had lower impact, allowing us to make informed decisions before moving into the redesign phase.
#1 Key Finding
High Impact X High Effort
Users are unable to perform task because of confusion over multiple map touch-points and dual settings
“I was just confused because I figured that the symbol that says settings would have everything" - Routine FF user (3YOE)
Drag the center icon to see the before and after versions!
#1. 1 Map Layers
Severity: Medium
Confusion over multiple map touch-points and lack of visual hierarchy
Snapshot of user journey: Multiple errors because of scattered categories.
#Usability issues
No Categorization in Map Layers
The absence of defined categories made it difficult for both new and experienced users to navigate the list—resulting in information overload and slowed task completion.
Overwhelming Long Scroll
A long, ungrouped list of map overlays created visual clutter, making it hard for new users to skim, scan, and understand the options available.
#Design Recommendation
Used Radio Buttons for Single Selection
To improve clarity, we replaced checkboxes with radio buttons for single-choice scenarios, helping users better understand available options and avoid accidental multiple selections.
Added ‘Reset’ and ‘Done’ CTAs
Introduced clear Reset and Done buttons to simplify exit navigation, allowing users to confidently confirm or discard changes without confusion.
#1. 2 Bottom Navigation
Severity: Medium
Navigation Re-design
“Bottom nav changes, shows whats recently used. I wish its personalizable." - Routine FF user (3YOE)
#Design Recommendation
Customizable Bottom Navigation
To reduce clutter and better serve diverse user needs, we enabled users to personalize their nav bar instead of showing a fixed set of commonly used features.
Moved Maps to First Position
Since Maps is the default landing page, we moved it to the first nav slot for a more intuitive experience.
Added Flight Plan
As a key feature, Flight Plan was added to the bottom nav to improve visibility and quick access.
#2 Key Finding
High Impact X High Effort
Severity: High
Users are unable to exit because of navigation behavior inconsistency
“That seems kinda clunky..." - Routine FF user (3YOE)
Drag the center icon to see the before and after versions!
#2. 1 Navigation Behavior
High Impact X High Effort
Severity: High
Users are unable to exit because of navigation behavior inconsistency
#Usability issues
Confusing Button Functionality
The "Catalog" button leads to the Catalog tab, while the "Back" button returns to the previous screen but isn't consistently across screens.
#Design Recommendation
Clarified Page vs. Catalog Actions
Established a distinction between actions related to the entire page and those related to individual documents, while also reinforcing a clear hierarchy of content making it easier for users to understand what belongs where.
Takeaway
Learning with the users – Jumping into a domain as complex as aviation pushed me to rapidly learn industry-specific workflows and language. That steep learning curve gave me firsthand empathy for new users—and shaped how I approached onboarding and discoverability challenges.
Re-Designing a loved product – I learned that even when users are required to use a product—like ForeFlight—frustration still matters. Advocating for change meant shifting the conversation from usability alone to efficiency, safety, and user confidence, which helped drive leadership buy-in.